Calling all Moms w/ Toddlers going to MNSSHP

[Nezzaa]

What are your plans? Are you going to wing it or do you have an itinerary in mind? are you going to be at MK all day, at PM or PM? are you planning on trying to stay the whole time? are there any "must do" activities?

I know going to DW with a toddler means being flexible, but I would like something more than just 'winging it'. So here's what we got so far:

DH dd(will be 17MO then) and I will be at MK for our First MNSSHP on the 26Th Oct at PM dressed up (Catrin, Catrina and dd butterfly or fairy maybe?). I would like to have the character dinner with pooh and friends but don't know yet if it would be better to do this before or after 4.

Here are our "MUST DO":
Peter Pan Flight
Dumbo
Haunted Mansion
Pirates of the Caribbean
Tikki Room
See Mickey & Minnie at Judge's ten (start line @630- Do Hot dog dance the whole time )
Mickey's House
Minnie's House
Donald and Daisy at boat
AND at least 1 "Boo to you" parade with Headless Horseman (15 min prior) probably at frontier land
and hopefully fireworks if dd OK

I have NO idea how to arrange all of this Soo, what do you guys think? is it doable? How long will it take to do all of that? Mind sharing your plans? any Tips/Ideas are MOST appreciated

[cemeb4dk]

Not a mom, but we took my daughter when she was about that age, she enjoyed the fireworks the parade and all the stuff you listed. The one thing she really liked was the dance party. I am not sure where they are having it this year it used to be by Ariels grotto and with the FL expansion not sure where they will have it this year.

[may_baby06]

We dont do any parks the day of the party. We sleep in and have a pretty easy day. Get to the park for 4 and hit some rides. Last year DD fell alseep for about an hour and woke up in time for the parade and fireworks and then we hit the characters. We usually do the 2nd parade as its not as crowded and we get in the characters 1st but since she was alseep we did it swapped. It was a great time for us to hit some of the bigger rides with the rider swap ticket. Didn't affect her sleeping that night as she was pretty worn out from all the other stuff we did. We dont really plan out much and leave room for the unexpected. Make sure to hit some of the dance parties. They are great for little ones to get out of the stroller and dance around with the characters in costumes! DD loves that, I think its her favorite part of the parties. Your plans dont sounds bad at all.

[froggy33]

We did MVMCP last year we my daughter was also 17 months. For the life of me I can't remember if we did anything else that day, but I would say no. I know when we go to MNSSHP this year we will be sleeping in that day, taking a late lunch and heading over at 4pm. I think we are going to get our faces painted, and mostly focus on the parade/fireworks/trick or treating. We will actually spend the whole day before in MK, so we're not too concerned with rides.

At MVMCP, she was really tired early on. I know she made it through the first parade, and we saw Santa, but I am pretty sure she crashed after that.

Take it really easy and if your little one does fall asleep, do some things you want to!

Good luck!

Previous poster - we'll be there the same time as you! I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks away!

[Nezzaa]

Originally Posted by may_baby06

We dont do any parks the day of the party. We sleep in and have a pretty easy day. Get to the park for 4 and hit some rides. Last year DD fell alseep for about an hour and woke up in time for the parade and fireworks and then we hit the characters. We usually do the 2nd parade as its not as crowded and we get in the characters 1st but since she was alseep we did it swapped. It was a great time for us to hit some of the bigger rides with the rider swap ticket. Didn't affect her sleeping that night as she was pretty worn out from all the other stuff we did. We dont really plan out much and leave room for the unexpected. Make sure to hit some of the dance parties. They are great for little ones to get out of the stroller and dance around with the characters in costumes! DD loves that, I think its her favorite part of the parties. Your plans dont sounds bad at all.

Thnks Cemeb4dk & Maybaby- I hadn't thought about the dance parties!

[Nezzaa]

Originally Posted by froggy33

We did MVMCP last year we my daughter was also 17 months. For the life of me I can't remember if we did anything else that day, but I would say no. I know when we go to MNSSHP this year we will be sleeping in that day, taking a late lunch and heading over at 4pm. I think we are going to get our faces painted, and mostly focus on the parade/fireworks/trick or treating. We will actually spend the whole day before in MK, so we're not too concerned with rides.

At MVMCP, she was really tired early on. I know she made it through the first parade, and we saw Santa, but I am pretty sure she crashed after that.

Take it really easy and if your little one does fall asleep, do some things you want to!

Good luck!

Previous poster - we'll be there the same time as you! I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks away!

Thnks froggy- Don't worry, I truly believe the boy scout motto when it comes to babies: "be prepared". DH and I love Disney, but we are kinda "ride d-out" so i only want to do things we can do as a whole family. BTW your baby is precious! I her outfit!

[princessekrus]

I think your plan sounds totally doable - and I'm open to tips as well, since we've been to WDW loads of times (my 4 year old DD has been 6+ times, her first was when she was 5 months!), this time I'm bringing my 11 month old DD as well, this will actually be her second trip (we went in Feb, when she was 2.5 months).

I did MVMCP with an 18 month old, and it was really fun. This is our first MNSSHP, and we're going in Sept., so I'm a little concerned about the heat, but I figure we'll figure it out.

We are planning on doing a fun character breakfast the morning of the party, and otherwise taking it easy. If we go to a park, my goal is to be out of there by 11:30 latest, and head back to the hotel (we're at OKW villas) to sleep/swim or otherwise relax. We'll head back to the parks to be there for a 5pm TS reservation - but we may skip that and just pick up counter-service something or other.

I definitely recommend taking it easy during the day, and then staying as late as you can manage at the party.

At MVMCP, the dance party was a big hit. I think they have moved it to the Diamond Horseshoe (from Ariels Grotto) but I could be wrong. I don't know how much character meeting we will do. My DD4 was much more into it at 18 months than she was last trip - she was a little scared

We are also really looking forward to the fireworks. We tend to end up missing the fireworks since DD4 HATES loud noises But I got her sound protective headphones, so I'm really hoping that helps this time.

We will try and do the late parade, since it's less crowded, but that is probably what I am most flexible about.

My recommendation would be to worry about the rides last, or if you are passing one and there's no line, to hit it. At MVMCP there was just so much else going on that my DD really didn't focus on rides. In fact, she was much more likely to want to repeat what she was just on than go to the next one, but that may have just been her. This time she is much more aware of the rides, so I'm sure we will be spending some time hitting her favorites.

Have a great trip!

[serene56]

We are doing a breakfast with Lilo and Stitch--swimming at the hotel-- then napping before heading to the park at 4pm.

Rides are not priorty for the party. Seeing the halloween shows and trick or treating are musts. as is seeing certain characters that are only out for the party.

Facepainting is free at the party.

[may_baby06]

Originally Posted by froggy33

We did MVMCP last year we my daughter was also 17 months. For the life of me I can't remember if we did anything else that day, but I would say no. I know when we go to MNSSHP this year we will be sleeping in that day, taking a late lunch and heading over at 4pm. I think we are going to get our faces painted, and mostly focus on the parade/fireworks/trick or treating. We will actually spend the whole day before in MK, so we're not too concerned with rides.

At MVMCP, she was really tired early on. I know she made it through the first parade, and we saw Santa, but I am pretty sure she crashed after that.

Take it really easy and if your little one does fall asleep, do some things you want to!

Good luck!

Previous poster - we'll be there the same time as you! I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks away!

What day are you going to the party? I'm getting super excited!

[Nezzaa]

Originally Posted by princessekrus

I think your plan sounds totally doable - and I'm open to tips as well, since we've been to WDW loads of times (my 4 year old DD has been 6+ times, her first was when she was 5 months!), this time I'm bringing my 11 month old DD as well, this will actually be her second trip (we went in Feb, when she was 2.5 months).

I did MVMCP with an 18 month old, and it was really fun. This is our first MNSSHP, and we're going in Sept., so I'm a little concerned about the heat, but I figure we'll figure it out.

We are planning on doing a fun character breakfast the morning of the party, and otherwise taking it easy. If we go to a park, my goal is to be out of there by 11:30 latest, and head back to the hotel (we're at OKW villas) to sleep/swim or otherwise relax. We'll head back to the parks to be there for a 5pm TS reservation - but we may skip that and just pick up counter-service something or other.

I definitely recommend taking it easy during the day, and then staying as late as you can manage at the party.

At MVMCP, the dance party was a big hit. I think they have moved it to the Diamond Horseshoe (from Ariels Grotto) but I could be wrong. I don't know how much character meeting we will do. My DD4 was much more into it at 18 months than she was last trip - she was a little scared

We are also really looking forward to the fireworks. We tend to end up missing the fireworks since DD4 HATES loud noises But I got her sound protective headphones, so I'm really hoping that helps this time.

We will try and do the late parade, since it's less crowded, but that is probably what I am most flexible about.

My recommendation would be to worry about the rides last, or if you are passing one and there's no line, to hit it. At MVMCP there was just so much else going on that my DD really didn't focus on rides. In fact, she was much more likely to want to repeat what she was just on than go to the next one, but that may have just been her. This time she is much more aware of the rides, so I'm sure we will be spending some time hitting her favorites.

Have a great trip!

Thanks princessekrus. I think you will be fine with the heat. it shouldn't be so bad on the evenings. When we went on june (so hot!) we took little handheld misting fans (from the dollar store or walmart?) and they help a lot. also I just read on another post the idea of dressing dd up in a disney pijama and i love that since its so much cooler

[linnell]

We're taking our 23 month old and 4 month old on our last day at the parks. I have ADRs at CP for 4:50, so we'll get there just before, have dinner and then start the party! We will have already had one day at MK, so I'm thinking that we'll just ride on a few favorites (this is both my son's first trips, so who knows what they will like) and DH and I will have to swap on HM because I know my 4yo won't go near it. Besides that, we're going to do the characters/ trick or treat and watch the parade and fireworks.

I have no idea how long they will last. We went to my BIL wedding 2 weeks ago and I told the 4yo that he didn't have a bed time. By 10pm he was begging to go back to the hotel and into bed. We'll have a stroller and I figure if they fall asleep, they fall asleep. I'm sure after a week at the world, DH and I will be tired too.

As for that day, we may go to DHS at rope drop and stay until 11 or 12 and then have a quiet afternoon. My kids are up at 6am most days, and we're staying at the BWV so it is close - I figure we'll go and ride TSM once or twice and maybe do one or two other things and then go back to the hotel.

[froggy33]

Originally Posted by may_baby06

What day are you going to the party? I'm getting super excited!

We'll be at WL Sept 15-20 and are going to the Sept 18 party! I can't wait! It's my daughters second trip, but she'll be much more in to it this trip!!